Vehicle that will usher in return of human space exploration to be unveiled

NASA's new Space Launch System, the vehicle that will mark the true return of human space exploration, will be unveiled with a shakedown test flight in 2018. No astronauts will be on board for EM-1, but the space agency said today it has decided to allow a few "passengers" to hitch a ride anyway.

A secondary payload of 13 small satellites, each about the size of a shoebox, will take advantage of the opportunity to be placed outside of Earth orbit for a relatively small cost. The so-called cubesats will gather data on all sorts of things, information that is expected to aid in future design and technology. Because they will have small on-board propulsion systems, they don't have to be stationary.

One of the cubesats, called CuSP, will study solar particles and will be built by Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. It will be equipped with three miniature scientific instruments that will observe interplanetary magnetic fields and energetic particles in the solar wind, the institute said in a press release.

Only seven cubesats have been selected by NASA so far, and their missions vary widely. Besides CuSP, one will perform a reconnaissance flight to a nearby asteroid while another will do lunar flybys. A third will test the effect of long-term exposure to radiation on living organisms.

Of the six yet-to-be-determined cubesats to fly on SLS, three will be chosen through a competition called Cube Quest Challenge and three will be provided by the agency's international partners.

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"The SLS is providing an incredible opportunity to conduct science missions and test key technologies beyond low-Earth orbit," said Bill Hill, deputy associate administrator for Exploration Systems Development at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "This rocket has the unprecedented power to send Orion to deep space plus room to carry 13 small satellites - payloads that will advance our knowledge about deep space with minimal cost."

Orion is the name bestowed on the capsule that will ride atop the new heavy lift rocket. Both are under construction and should be close to completion by the end of 2016. Much of 2017 will devoted to testing and final assembly.